Sara Gilbert Says She Realized She Was Gay While Dating ‘Roseanne’ Co-Star

The secrets continued on “The Talk” on Thursday. Following Sharon Osbourne and Julie Chen’s revelations earlier this week, it was Sara Gilbert’s turn at the helm and she used to opportunity to reveal how and when she realized she was gay.

“So, some of you may know, that when I was a teenager I dated Johnny Galecki for a little while, who played my boyfriend and husband on ‘Roseanne.’” she said. “I thought he was super cute and had a total crush on him and we started dating and he would come over and we would make out and then I would start to get depressed,” she said.

She went on to say that her realizations obviously started to impact her relationship with her co-star.

“Johnny felt badly, I think, and started to take it personally and didn’t know what was going on,” she added. “So I eventually told him that I thought it was about my sexuality and he was super sweet about it.”

Gilbert went on to reveals that while she was shooting the famed ABC sitcom, she started to date an older woman who was also in the public eye. However, she was terrified that the public would discover her relationship, stating that “no one knew at the show for years, and Johnny held this secret the whole time and I always felt so scared if it came out, what could happen? Could I lose my career?”

Fortunately, that didn’t happen as she went on to note that while she still faces challenges, she is happy with her life.

“I want to live a true life,” she said. “Beyond that, we do often say things like ‘it gets better’ and it does get better. I have an amazing life, but there can still be a struggle with it, and that’s ok. There can be a part of you that doesn’t want to be different or feel scared. And that is more important than any of it.”